Please help I need some advice

[BeanoNoir]

Really really want to bf ds (dc2) until at least 6 months but getting very close to thinking formula will make the whole family happier.

He's nearly 15 weeks now and still waking 4+ times in the night, and feeding about every hour in the day (I tried a day of leaving 2 hours between feeds and it didn't work).

night before last i got him to sleep just after 9pm. I was up at 12 feeding him for over an hour, then again at 2, then at 4 and then 2 year old dd woke for the day at 6am, waking ds up too. Am sahm to toddler and baby and don't think I can sustain this sleep level.

He had a posterior tongue tie snipped at 8 weeks (I got it diagnosed thanks to advice I got here). It feels like a lot of problems are still here.

He doesn't open his lips while feeding and has a very shallow latch. Falls asleep on the breast a lot but then when I put him down cries to be fed again. Could tt have grown back?

He's become very windy again and doesn't poo everyday. Farts smell really strongly.

I've tried to express and give him a bottle tonight. He downed the bottle but as he's feeding so much in the day I only expressed 50ml. Should I keep trying this?

If it was just him I'd just sit and feed feed feed. But I have dd to take care of in the day and it's not fair on her. Should I just accept I've done over 3 months and move to a bottle? I think dd would enjoy helping me feed ds a bottle rather than missing out while I'm bf.

I've tried correcting his latch over and over again but it always slips back straight away and I'm doing a lot of feeding in the day one handed while trying to do a jigsaw with/read to/ cuddle dd so it's really difficult.

Have started crying as I write this didn't realise how much it's getting to me. Any advice would be great. Feel like I'm making life hard for us all by insisting on bf, but isn't that the best for him?

Have got a fantastic feeding coordinator at the hospital where he got snipped but I've phoned and she's out of office until Monday. I can't wait that long. In fact I think I'm driving to the supermarket now for some infant formula. I'm honestly not judgemental of people who ff, but I never wanted to and am upset I'm going to do this.

Try not to feel bad, it sounds like you have done very well to keep going this long, you have done a great thing for your baby but your health and sanity are important too!

You could always try a mixture of bf and ff and see if that helped. Sounds like you may need some help with the latch and it's a shame your coordinator is away till Monday, but aside from that you could be in the middle of the four month sleep regression which won't be helping things. This doesn't help at all but some babies just like to feed through the night, whether bf or ff - have you considered co-sleeping? It's the only way I survived DD's twice hourly all night long feeds.

Mixed feeding really helped me keep going for an extra few months. I gave one bottle per day, during the day time. It made all the difference and I didn't feel so overwhelmed by bfing. My HV advised only giving daytime bottles though, because milk production is most stimulated by hormones produced at night.
If someone else gives the bottle, it means you could express and keep a stash of frozen milk for emergencies.
But congratulations for getting this far!

Well I've just given a bottle of formula and he drank 6oz and that's straight after feeding him for most of the night. I'm going to try and express in a bit and mix feed with as much bf as possible until I can see the feeding coordinator. I gave formula and the sky didn't fall in

We've been mix feeding since DD was 3 1/2 months. We started giving a FF after bath and then she BF til she settled. It meant she settled at say 8.30-9 rather than 10-10.30 which made a huge difference to me.

I had the same problem putting her down. I used to warm a cotton sheet on me while feeding her so that she wasn't going on to a cold sheet which helped. I would recommend The No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley for tips on gentle ways to improve sleep.

I introduced a second FF when she was 5 months. Since then she's dropped some feeds and we've stopped BF to sleep (did sleep training at 6 months) so essentially we do 4 feeds a day alternating BF and FF and I BF if she wakes at night. She's now 7 months and it's worked well for us.